Friday Afternoon — Outside the Teaching Building
The monthly exam had concluded, and with it came the ritual that defined Shuchi'in's social hierarchy: the gathering before the whiteboard.
Students clustered in loose groups, necks craned, fingers tracing names and numbers.
"The rankings are the same as before." A girl's voice carried through the crowd, tinged with the resignation of someone who had hoped for chaos and received continuity.
"Shirogane President as steady as ever. Kaguya-san too." Her companion nodded sagely. "Sakurai-kun, though—I heard he had a headache on Wednesday. That's why his score dropped."
A boy nearby snorted. "Headache. Sure. Convenient excuse."
The first girl's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
"He went to the infirmary immediately after the exam. Did you know that? No? Then perhaps keep your uninformed opinions to yourself." Her gaze raked over him with dismissive precision. "Tsk. So ordinary-looking, yet so confident."
The boy's friend patted his shoulder gently, pityingly.
"She's a fan of Sakurai General Affairs," he whispered. "You won't win. Let it go."
Near the back of the crowd, two girls stood apart from the general throng.
"Maki." Kashiwagi Nagisa's voice was soft, meant only for her friend. "Fourth and fifth again. Everyone only talks about the top three. No one even mentions us."
She was the head of the Volunteer Club—a title that sounded grand until one realized the club's membership consisted of exactly two people: herself and Shijo Maki.
If a boy ever joins, Nagisa sometimes thought, we'll have the exact configuration of a certain infamous winter-themed game. One male, two females. The 'White Album' setup. The persecution aura.
Please let no boy ever join.
But her friend's attention wasn't on hypothetical club dynamics.
Shijo Maki's gaze was fixed on the whiteboard. Specifically, on the third position.
Her eyes lingered there with the intensity of a starving woman staring at a locked pantry.
"Hmph." Her voice was carefully controlled. Deliberately casual. "I don't care about grades anyway."
Lie.
Monumental lie.
Catastrophic, soul-crushing lie.
Shijo Maki was, internally, approximately 2.3 seconds from tears.
Fourth. Again. Fourth for how long? How many exams? How many rankings? How many times have I climbed and climbed only to find the same ceiling?
I worked so hard.
I studied so much.
Why can't I break through?
Her eyes burned. Her throat tightened. Her vision blurred slightly at the edges.
No. No crying. Not here. Not now. Not in front of all these people.
She pressed her uniform sleeve against her eyes—a quick, furtive motion, barely noticeable.
One step up. Just one. Third place, and I'd be mentioned with Shirogane and Shinomiya. I'd exist in their conversations. I'd matter.
Fourth is nowhere. Fourth is the first of the forgotten. Fourth is—
Even Sakurai General Affairs, sick and head pounding, scored higher than me.
"Maki." Nagisa's hand found hers. Gentle. Understanding. "Let's go."
Shijo Maki allowed herself to be pulled away from the whiteboard, her red-rimmed eyes fixed straight ahead, her expression carefully blank.
The Student Council arrived moments later.
Kaguya Shinomiya approached the rankings with the casual grace of a predator surveying its territory. Her gaze flickered across the board.
Third place: Sakurai Saki.
Second place: Kaguya Shinomiya.
First place: Shirogane Miyuki.
"Oh my~" Her voice was silk wrapped in honey. "Third place again, Sakurai-kun. I heard you had a headache that day. What a pity." She tilted her head, the picture of sympathetic concern. "If you had performed better, you might have had a chance at first."
YES.
YES YES YES.
I KEPT SECOND PLACE.
THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.
Her initial goal—first place, Shirogane's head on a platter—had been conveniently memory-holed in favor of pure, unadulterated relief.
"Third is fine." Sakurai Saki's face revealed nothing. "I don't particularly care about exams."
Lie.
Monumental lie.
The headache was real, and it cost me points I should have had.
His expression remained placid, but beneath it, a quiet current of irritation pulsed. The side effect had chosen the worst possible moment. Superpowers were useful; superpowers that manifested as skull-splitting migraines during critical examinations were less useful.
"Speaking of which." He turned to Kaguya, his tone lightly inquisitive. "You seem quite invested in exam performance. Shirogane and I don't study for two days before tests. Keeps the mind fresh."
Shirogane Miyuki, who had been internally performing a victory dance of approximately seventeen complex movements, schooled his features into casual agreement.
"Indeed." His voice was calm. Measured. Utterly believable. "We find that mental and physical rest before an examination yields optimal results. No last-minute cramming. Just… equilibrium."
YOU ABSOLUTE LIAR.
Kaguya's smile didn't waver, but her internal monologue reached decibels normally reserved for rock concerts.
I KNOW you reviewed. I KNOW you stayed up until 3 AM. I HAD HAYASAKA CALL YOUR FRIEND SPECIFICALLY TO DISRUPT—
She caught herself.
…I may have overshared with myself just now.
"Huh~"
A new voice entered the conversation. Fujiwara Chika tilted her head, genuine confusion written across her features.
"I didn't review either! Just like Shirogane President and Saki-kun said!" She blinked. "So why did my ranking drop?"
Silence.
Oh no, Shirogane thought.
Oh dear, Saki thought.
"Cough." Shirogane recovered first. "It's… a matter of constitution. Different bodies respond differently to pre-exam rest."
"Yes." Saki nodded smoothly. "Not everyone's physiology is suited to this method. It requires a certain… innate academic baseline."
"I see!" Chika accepted this with the trusting openness of a golden retriever being told that the vacuum cleaner is actually a friendly noise-maker. "Kaguya-san, you don't review before exams either, right? You said so!"
Kaguya's smile became slightly fixed.
"…Indeed. I also prioritize mental freshness."
I am going to kill them both.
I am going to kill them and no one will ever find the bodies.
Behind them, unnoticed, Shijo Maki's retreating figure disappeared around a corner.
Fourth place had its own battles to fight.
Friday Afternoon — Outside the Teaching Building (Continued)
"Of course, I went to bed at 8 PM the night before the exam." Kaguya Shinomiya's voice carried the effortless conviction of someone who had long ago mastered the art of lying without blinking. "Unfortunately, my condition on exam day was slightly suboptimal. Otherwise, first place would have been mine."
Lies.
All lies.
She hasn't told a single truth since she opened her mouth.
But buried beneath the falsehood was a kernel of genuine frustration: Tuesday night's "strategic operation" with Hayasaka had disrupted her sleep. The sweet nothings floating through her bedroom walls had made focused review impossible, and restful sleep even more so.
Perhaps, a small voice whispered, if I hadn't been so focused on sabotaging Sakurai, I might have actually studied properly.
She crushed that voice immediately.
"As expected of Kaguya-san!" Fujiwara Chika's eyes sparkled with genuine admiration. "Always getting second place!"
Kaguya's expression froze.
…Praise.
She's praising me.
I know she's praising me.
Why does it feel like an insult?
"Being consistently better than Saki-kun is really impressive!" Chika continued, oblivious.
Kaguya's eye twitched.
If you can't praise someone, she thought with profound exhaustion, then don't praise them at all.
Shirogane Miyuki, mercifully, changed the subject.
"The Nakano sisters." He gestured toward the lower portion of the ranking board. "They didn't finish last this time."
Saki followed his gaze. Around 175th place. A twenty-position improvement from their previous performance.
"They'll still need to retake some failed subjects," Shirogane continued, his tone genuinely impressed. "But to raise their scores this much in a single month… Sakurai, your teaching ability is remarkable. I'm not sure I could achieve the same."
Shuchi'in's exams were notoriously brutal—heavy on advanced concepts, light on the basic questions that padded scores at ordinary schools. Every point gained here was earned through blood, sweat, and tears.
"More or less." Saki's voice was measured, but a quiet satisfaction lurked beneath. "I invested considerable effort. The results are commensurate with the input."
And, he added silently, the tutoring provides something my previous part-time jobs never could: time to study while teaching. A symbiotic relationship.
His gaze drifted toward the first-year section of the board.
Ishigami Yu and Iino Miko stood before it, their expressions remarkably similar: calm, composed, unrevealing.
Miko is unusually placid, Saki noted. Either she performed poorly and is hiding it well, or—
"Ishigami." Shirogane greeted the younger boy as he approached. "How did you fare?"
"Normally." Ishigami shrugged with the practiced indifference of someone who had long ago divorced his self-worth from academic performance. "176th."
Saki nodded approvingly. "An improvement. Last time was 185th."
Progress is progress. Small steps still move forward.
"And Iino?"
Ishigami paused.
A beat of silence.
"…First place."
The contrast hung in the air, unremarked but unmistakable. Two equally calm expressions. Two entirely different internal realities.
Confidence, Saki thought. Miko had confidence in her result. Ishigami has… acceptance.
Neither was wrong. Neither was right. They simply were.
A Secluded Corner of the Campus
"Yay!"
Miko's feet left the ground.
"Yay!"
Another small jump, fists pumping.
"YAY!"
A third—higher this time, pure unfiltered joy propelling her upward.
Ofo Koachi watched her friend's celebration with the patient tolerance of someone who had seen this exact behavior approximately seventeen times since they'd left the ranking board.
"Done?"
"Not yet!" Miko spun in a small circle, arms outstretched. "First place! First place! First place!"
When Sakurai-senpai hears about this—
Her heart did a small flip.
When he sees the rankings—
When he realizes I actually did it—
Will he praise me?
Will he say "good job"?
Will he—
"Miko." Ofo's voice cut through the spiral. "You're glowing."
"I AM GLOWING." Miko grabbed her friend's hands. "I AM MADE OF LIGHT AND TRIUMPH AND—"
"And also made of 'please don't let anyone from the disciplinary committee see me acting like this.'"
Miko froze.
Looked around.
Confirmed no witnesses.
"…Right. Yes. Composure."
She straightened her uniform, smoothed her hair, and resumed the expression of calm dignity she had worn before the ranking board.
But inside, the glow remained.
Sakurai-senpai.
Just wait until you hear.
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